A learning system is known that transmits a teacher's image and voice in real time through a network to a large number of students. With such a learning system, though simple, students, while staying at home, can receive the same lecture as that given in the classroom. With such a conventional learning system, however, because individual student's reaction does not reach the teacher giving lecture, students' reaction cannot be fed back to the lecture like with the teaching in the classroom.
On the other hand, as a network type of learning system that can grasp the students' reaction is proposed in which a network type of multi-user virtual space is used (JP-A-H 8-212173). This system defines a virtual space in which a plural number of learning steps and respective students are displayed as objects, so that one can observe at the teacher terminal the students' situation as they move along in the virtual space with the progress of the learning step.
Another network type of system is also proposed in which a TV camera is placed at the students' terminals, so that students' facial expressions can be observed at the teacher terminal.
However, the former system requires a complicated system configuration and, on top of that, the system is not the one that realizes the form of lecture normally given in classrooms in which reactions of many students receiving the same lecture contents are fed back in real time. Moreover, the latter system requires special equipment such as TV cameras and broad band lines at the terminals of all the students and, on top of that, because of enormous amount of information, transmission of information becomes slow. Further, due to the limit to the network load, the number of students that can be displayed simultaneously at the teacher terminal is limited. Thus, with the increase in the number of students, it becomes impossible to grasp reactions of all the students in real time like in the classroom.